Battle of Longjiang

The Battle of Longjiang was a failed attempt by the Wakou Pirates to capture the Ming Treasure Fleet of Admiral Wang Jinhai in the Longjiang Shipyards of Nanjing in 1421.

Background
In 1421, Zheng He gave command of one of his treasure fleets to Emperor Yongle's nephew Admiral Wang Jinhai, an inexperienced and arrogant nobleman who served as a captain in only two voyages before. The fleet of 300+ treasure ships was anchored in the Longjiang Shipyards of Nanjing in the Ming Empire, and was being built to finish the preparations for the voyage. However, the Wakou Pirates struck the fleet unexpectedly, so the Ming forces prepared to counterattack.

Battle
The Ming forces stayed at their base and defended their shipbuilders as they constructed the flagship of the treasure fleet, and eventually liberated two stockades filled with captured Chinese workers. The Wokou were revealed to be in both a mountain castle to the west as well as a town to the northeast, and the Chinese recruited Territorial Army units in order to destroy the two bases. After destroying the Wokou bases, the Chinese constructed trade posts along the trade route, guaranteeing a steady flow of supplies to the shipbuilders, allowing the fleet to be constructed and to move on.